1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to display strips, articles useful for displaying a plurality of items for sale, typically positioned in retail outlets to maximize impulse purchasing. More specifically, the present invention is concerned with disposable display strips, as well as apparatus and methods for producing such display strips, including apparatus and methods for pre-loading such strips.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Display strips are known. Many comprise a strip of material having means for suspending the strip from the top and a plurality of hooks or fingers for supporting an apertured item offered for sale. These types of display strips are reusable. After the merchandise has been removed, new merchandise is hung from the strip. This is a time consuming task for delivery people and clerks who reload these strips. Breakage is a frequent problem with commercial, reusable display strips requiring replacement. During a search of the Patent and Trademark Office web site bibliographic patent database, directed to the present invention, the following patents were noted: U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,049 (Brieske) entitled Method of Making Flexible Bag; U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,903 (Sherwood) entitled Hanging Tab With Single Line of Adhesive and Hanging Hole Clear of Adhesive; U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,943 (Fast) entitled Strip Merchandiser; U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,012 (Simmons) entitled Strip Hanger; U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,805 (Rodriquez) entitled Apparatus for Securing, Displaying and Dispensing of Envelope Package Goods; U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,489 (Cea) entitled Method of Making a Three Dimensional Composite Display Card; U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,392 (Fast) entitled Strip Merchandiser with Reinforcement Section; U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,578 (Pendergraph et al.) entitled Clip Strip for Supporting Multiple Packages and Display Assembly Using Same; U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,036 (Radocha, Sr., et al.) entitled Strip Type Point-of-Sale Display Unit; U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,259 (Conway, et al.) entitled Two Sided Merchandising Strip; U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,967 (Valiulis) entitled Strip Merchandiser; U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,916 (Valiulis) entitled Adjustable Strip Merchandiser; U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,959 (Gummer) entitled Hosiery Display Package; U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,721 (Gebka) entitled Reversible Strip Merchandiser; U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,922 (Good) entitled Product Display Hanger; U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,699 (Gebka) entitled Strip Merchandiser Hanger and Label Holder; U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,003 (Gebka) entitled Strip Merchandiser Hanger and Label Holder; U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,212 (Pomerantz) entitled Display Strip Merchandiser; U.S. Pat. No. D412,721 (DeFelice) entitled Merchandising Strip; U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,582 (Repaci et al.) entitled Product Shipping and Display Strip System; U.S. Pat. No. 2,361,141 (Woolf et al.) entitled Show Card; U.S. Pat. No. 2,606,665 (Caswell) entitled Display and Dispensing Device; U.S. Pat. No. 2,647,640 (Ellis) entitled Display Card; U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,449 (Kinderman) entitled Apparatus for the Display of Goods; U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,552 (Palmer et al.) entitled Card for Mounting Bags and the Like; U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,827 (Calcerano) entitled Package Carrier; U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,708 (Kelm) entitled Button Cell Storage and Merchandising Package; U.S. Pat. No. 3,047,144 (Wissel) entitled Ad-Token Card; U.S. Pat. No. 3,608,711 (Wiesler et al.) entitled Package for Electronic Devices and the Like; U.S. Pat. No. 2,001,798 (Schreiber) entitled Display Device; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,422 (Shea) entitled Reinforced Strip Display Assembly Capable of Supporting High Volumes of Smaller Impulse Merchandise.
The Rodriquez Patent discloses apparatus for securing, displaying and dispensing envelope package goods. The apparatus comprises a securing strip, a masking strip and adhesive between the two strips. Adhesive for securing a package to the apparatus is applied to the securing strip and is presented through apertures in the masking strip so that packages may be pressed against the exposed adhesive, thereby releasably securing the package to the apparatus. Thus, the Rodriquez apparatus comprises two strips and packages are secured directly to adhesive, which, in turn, is secured directly to the securing strip. This requires fairly precise alignment between packages and apertures in the masking strip for securing packages to the strip.